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US President Donald Trump said on Thursday night that he had launched a "powerful and deadly strike" against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after he spent weeks decrying the group for targeting Christians. The president's post did not include information about how the strike was carried out and what effects it had and the White House did not immediately provide further details. "Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!" the president posted on his social media site. Last month, Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria following the claims of Christian persecution. The State Department then announced in recent weeks that it would restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members
Five people have been killed in Nigeria's northeastern Maiduguri after a bomb exploded during prayer at a mosque on Wednesday night, a police statement said. Police added that 35 people were injured in the attack, which it said is likely a suicide attack. Preliminary investigations further suggest that the incident may have been a suicide bombing, based on the recovery of fragments of a suspected suicide vest and witness statements recorded, while investigations are ongoing to establish the exact cause and circumstances, Nahum Daso, spokesperson for Borno state police command, said in the statement. Daso said police were conducting a sweep of the area in search of secondary devices. The Christmas Eve attack is the latest in a series of attacks in Nigeria's troubled northern region, where the country is battling multiple armed groups, including Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, among others. Several thousand people have been killed, with millions
The United States will restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members involved in mass killings and violence against Christians in the West African country, the US State Department has said. The attacks on the community are part of a longstanding and extremely complex security crisis in Nigeria a nation recently singled out by US President Donald Trump for "the killing of Christians" by "radical Islamists". Last month, Trump also said he has ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria following the claims of Christian persecution. "The United States is taking decisive action in response to the mass killings and violence against Christians by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani ethnic militias, and other violent actors in Nigeria and beyond," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement posted on X on Wednesday. He added that the policy would apply to other governments or individuals engaged in violations of religious freedom, and
Indian businesses, mainly those hit by high US tariffs, can manufacture or assemble products in Lagos Free Zone (LFZ) in Nigeria, which provides preferential access to the US and other major global markets, a Nigerian official said on Sunday. LFZ Managing Director and CEO Adesuwa Ladoja, in an interview with PTI, said that recent tariff adjustments in the US have created real challenges for Indian companies, particularly in sectors like textiles, leather and automotive components. The US has imposed 50 per cent tariff on a wide range of Indian-origin products which may affect almost USD 49 billion worth of exports to America. "What makes Lagos Free Zone uniquely positioned is Nigerian exports to the US face tariffs as low as 14 per cent, significantly lower than those applied to many other countries. "For Indian businesses, this means that by setting up in LFZ, they can manufacture or assemble products in Nigeria and enjoy a considerable tariff advantage compared to shipping direct
Workforce gender gap begins early in India with women holding just one in three entry-level private sector roles and only 24 per cent of managerial positions, a report said on Wednesday. In India, despite forming half of the university graduate pool, women continue to face systemic barriers to entry, advancement, and retention in formal employment, according to McKinsey & Company's 'Women in the Workplace' report. It showed that women hold just one in three entry-level private sector roles and only 24 per cent of manager positions, signalling a wide gap between potential and actual representation. The report is based on insights of 324 organisations across India, Nigeria, and Kenya employing roughly 1.4 million people, including 77 private sector organisations from India (having a total of 9 lakh employees). The gender imbalance in India is further highlighted by a seven-year age gap at the entry level where women average 39 years compared to men at 32 years, the widest gap across
Nigeria's president said on Monday that at least 40 people were killed when Muslim gunmen, believed to be herders, attacked a Christian farming community in the north-central part of the country, the latest in an increasing wave of violence in the West African country. President Bola Tinubu also said he has ordered an investigation over the late Sunday night attack on the Zike community, extending his condolences to the victims and their families. I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts, Tinubu said in a statement late Monday. Amnesty International said the victims, who included children and the elderly, were taken by surprise and could not flee from the gunmen. Such attacks have become common in this part of Africa's most populous country, where gunmen typically herders from Fulani, a Muslim tribe exploit security lapses to launch deadly raids on farmers in a fight over land ...
Nigerian soldiers killed 79 militants and suspected kidnappers over the past week, the army said Friday, in an operation targeting a decades-long insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast and attacks by various armed groups in the northwest. The West African country has been ramping up efforts to secure the country as some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the northeastern region, according to the U.N. The nationwide operation by Nigeria's military led to the arrest of 252 individuals and the liberation of 67 hostages held by the militants, a Nigerian military spokesperson, Edward Buba, said in a statement. Kidnappings have become a common occurrence in Nigeria's northwest, where dozens of armed groups exploit the region's limited security presence to carry out attacks on villages and along major roads. Many victims are only released after the payment of ransoms that sometimes run into the thousands of dollars. The 2014 kidnapping of 276
The United States announced Friday that it would be returning USD 52.88 million in seized assets to Nigeria as part of a yearslong corruption probe against former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and associates, according to a joint statement by Nigeria's minister of justice and the United States government. It marks the first repatriation of assets linked to Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria's oil minister from 2010 to 2015. She rose to prominence as a powerful figure under former President Goodluck Jonathan, and became the first female president of the oil alliance OPEC. The seized assets, including a superyacht and prime real estate in New York and California, were confiscated in 2023 by US authorities during Alison-Madueke's trial. Of the repatriated funds, USD 50 million will be allocated to rural electrification programmes in Nigeria, while the remaining USD 2.88 million will be disbursed as a grant by the African country to the International Institute for Justice to ..
An airstrike targeting an armed group in northwestern Nigeria mistakenly killed at least 10 civilians, the West African nation's military said Friday. The villagers were killed on Christmas Day when the air force targeted a logistics base of the Lakurawa insurgent group in the Silame area of Sokoto state, Edward Buba, Nigerian defense spokesperson, told journalists at a press conference. On Thursday, the Sokoto state government said the air force mistakenly shelled the villagers in the early hours of Wednesday in an attempt to dislodge the insurgents from the area. However, on Friday, Buba said only that the Lakurawa insurgents were directly hit by munitions and that the civilians died from secondary explosions. The Lakurawa insurgent group began infiltrating Africa's most populous country following a wave of coups that disrupted Nigeria's relations with neighbouring Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, hurting their ability to cooperate on transnational threats. Initially gaining local
The death toll from stampedes during two Christmas charity events in Nigeria has increased from 13 to 32, police said Sunday. The victims, including at least four children, collapsed during crowd surges as people grew desperate for food items while the country grapples with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The dead included 22 people in southeastern Anambra state's Okija town, where a philanthropist on Saturday organised a food distribution, local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. Ten others died in the capital, Abuja, during a church-organised similar charity event. Police said they were investigating the two incidents, only days after another stampede in which several children were killed. Africa's most populous country is seeing a growing trend by local organisations, churches and individuals to organise charity events ahead of Christmas to ease economic hardship caused by a cost-of-living crisis. Witnesses of the Abuja stampede told The Associated Press the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu a 'Silofar Panchamrit Kalash', officials said on Monday, describing the pot as a stunning example of traditional craftsmanship from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. This 'kalash', they added, is made from high-quality silver, shaped with skill and precision. It features elegant engravings typical of Kolhapur's renowned metal work, with motifs that often include floral patterns, deities and traditional designs. The handle of the 'kalash' and the lid are crafted to provide ease of use during religious ceremonies, where 'panchamrit' -- a sacred mixture of milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar -- is served, they said. Modi had arrived in Nigerian capital Abuja early Sunday on the first trip to the country by an Indian prime minister after a gap of 17 years. He is currently on a five-day tour of three countries and reached Brazil earlier on Monday to attend the G20 summit.